Barrow attachment for lawn mowers



March 18, 1952 A. w. BACHMAN 2,589,325

BARROW ATTACHMENT FOR LAWN MOWERS Filed April 19, 1949 INVENTOR. 19.5527 ll/BHCHMH/V BY I Patented Mar. 18, 1952 BARROW ATTACHMENT FOR LAWNMOWERS Albert W. Bachman, Parma, Ohio Application April 19, 1949, SerialNo. 88,309

2 Claims.

engagement with the handle and roller of a lawn mower.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device of the kind to bemore particularly described hereinafter capable of performing most ofthe average carrying or hauling jobs around the home and formed for lowcost manufacture.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wheelbarrow attachmentfor a lawn mower engageable with the roller and handle bar of the mowerin such a manner that no modification or change in the structure orformation is necessary to obtain the conversion or attachment.

The tub, when attached to the mower, will provide a wheelbarrow which iseasy to balance, steer and pivot because of the two-wheel suspensionprovided by the mower.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a light-weight,sturdy attachment which is readily and easily attached to a lawn mowerof any present conventional structure. The attachment is quite asreadily detached from the mower to be stored away when the mower is tobe used as a cutter.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in thearrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in thedrawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wheelbarrowattachment constructed according to an embodiment of my invention,secured on the handle an roller of an inverted lawn mower Figure 2 is abottom plan view of the wheelbarrow attachment removed from the lawnmower;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the lawn mower and wheelbarrowattachment, showing the lawn mower in the raised position fordischarging the material or load from the wheelbarrow or tub body;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the bracket and supporting member forattachment to the handle of the lawn mower;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detail section showing the engagement of thefront hook of the wheelbarrow body with the transverse roller of thelawn mower.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral designates generally aconventional lawn mower ineluding a wheeled truck and having alongitudinally extending elongated handle ll secured to.

said truck. Specifically, the handle H is fixed on the side plates l2 ofthe lawn mower at the lower end thereof. The side plates [2 provide thebearings for the wheel axle, not shown in the drawings, the wheels [4being rotatably supported on the outer sides of the side walls or platesl2. Being of conventional formation, the lawn mower 10 includes atransverse roller l5 adjustably mounted on the lower end thereof at therear ends of the side plates [2, rearwardly of th cutting blades, notshown in the drawings.

The wheelbarrow attachment [6 constructed according to an embodiment ofthis invention is adapted to be secured to the handle I l and to theroller I5 of the inverted lawn mower Ill. The

wheelbarrow attachment I6 is formed of a substantially conventionalwheelbarrow body ll open at the top thereof and having a bottom wall l8,side walls I9, a rear end wall 21] and a forward end wall 21. The endwalls 20 and 2| are inclined downwardly and inwardly from the upper edgeof the open upper end of the body [1 engaging or formed integrally withthe bottom wall It. In the preferred form of the body ll, the walls I9,20 and 2| are formed from a single piece of fiat sheet material stampedto the desired configuration. As in most types of wheelbarrow bodies,the rear wall 20 i shorter than the front wall 2!, as the wheelbarrowbody is normally transported or moved about with the upper edge thereofin a substantially horizontal position. In the rest position of thewheelbarrow, the bottom wall I8 is disposed in a horizontal position and1" therefore to conform to the requirements of the use of a wheelbarrow,the side walls [9 are tapered from a narrow rear end to an enlarged orwidened front end. In order to easily slide or discharge the materialfrom Within the body H, the front wall 21 is inclined downwardly andinwardly toward the front end of the bottom wall I8 so that when therear end of the body I! is raised, the material resting on the bottom IB will be slidably removed from the forward or upper edge of the frontwall 2|, as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. I

A pair of hooks 22 are fixed to the bottom wall l8 on the lower sidethereof intermediate the length thereof a short distance forwardly ofthe longitudinal center. The hooks 22 include a substantially horizontalshank 24 which is adapted to be secured to the bottom wall l8 by rivets25 or other suitable fastening means. A bill 26 is formed integrallywith the forward end of the .shank 24 on each of the hooks 22 and isextended fastening devices.

downwardly and rearwardly, the forward portions of the bills 26 beingarcuate in configuration having the concave sides thereof facingrearwardly along the length of the body II. The radius of each of thearcuate bills 26 is substantially equal to the outside diameter of theroller l5 of the lawn mower and the length of each of the bills 26 issuch as to extend about the outside forward surface of the roller 5terminating at a point slightly forwardly of the axis thereof, as shownin Figure 5 of the drawings. The hook 22 is formed of metal or othersuitable, substantially resilient material to provide for the resilientengagement of the bill 26 about the roller l5 when the wheelbarrowattachment H5 is secured to the lawn mower.

A rear hook 21 is secured to the rear end of the bottom wall l8 and isformed with a longitudinally-extending shank 28 which is secured to thebottom wall |8 by rivets 29 or other suitable The shank 28 is bent atthe rear end thereof to form a forwardly-extending, downwardly andforwardly-inclined bill 36. The bill 30 is flat in configurationextending forwardly of the body I! confronting the rearwardly-extendingbills 26 of the front hooks 22.

A bracket 3| is fixed along the length of the handle II for securing therear hook 21 to the handle and for supporting the swingable supportingleg or member 32.

The bracket 3| is formed of a U-shaped strap of metal having a bightportion 34 and a pair of depending legs or arms 35 and 36 extendingdownwardly from the opposite ends of the bight portion 34. A transverseplate 31 is fixed between the side arms 35 and 36 adjacent the bight 34,spaced downwardly therefrom, defining a slot or opening 38 therebetween.The side arms 35 and 36 are formed with inwardly-extending flanges 39 adacent the lower ends thereof, the space between the flanges 39 and thetransverse, intermediate bar 31 defining the space 40 within which thehandle II is adapted to be clampingly engaged. The arms 35 and 36 arecontinued downwardly from the inside edges of the flanges 39 forming thelower straps or tabs 4| at the terminal ends thereof. A pivot pin 42 isengaged between t e extreme lower ends of the side arms 35 and 36,extending through the tabs 4| transversely of the bracket 3|. Thesupporting member 32 is formed of an elongated member having an eye orbearing member 44 fixed to the upper end thereof. The pivot pin 42 isadapted to be extended through the bearing 44 for rockably supportingthe member 32 thereon.

A stop element or member 45 is carried by the bearing 44 on the upperedge thereof above the pivot 4| and is adapted to be extended rearwardlyalong the length of the handle II when the bracket 3| is secured ormounted thereon. The stop element 4| is adapted to engage the under sideof the handle H for limiting the rearward rocking movement of thesupporting member 32 to a substantially vertical position, as shown inFigure 1 of the drawings, for supporting the wheelbarrow attachment inthe rest position. With the supporting member 32 engaging the ground andsupporting the handle in a raised position, the wheelbarrow body I! issupported in a rest or substantially horizontal position insubstantially the same manner and disposition as the conventional typeof wheelbarrows. When the lawn mowerhandle H is raised for dumpingmaterial from the body IT, or for transporting material, the supportingmember 32 will swing the rear edge of the slot or passage 38 forsecuring the rear hook 2'! to the bracket 3|. In this position, thelower edges of the hooks 22 will engage the upper surface of the rollerl5, which is mounted transversely of the handle II at the lower endthereof. By pressing downwardly on the wheelbarrow body H, the billportions 26 will be resiliently engaged about the forward surface of theroller, the roller rotating on its axis as the bills 23 are moveddownwardly over the forward edge thereof. When the arcuate bills 26 areseated on the forward edge of the roller IS, the resiliency of the hooks22 will press the extreme lower edges of the bills 26 downwardly andrearwardly over the forward surface of the roller I5 for securelymounting the body I] on the inverted lawn mower It. In thi position ofthe attachment l6, the wheels M of the lawn mower I6 will provide thesuitable wheels for moving the lawn mower with the wheelbarrowattachment mounted thereon with a load in the wheelbarrow body I1.

I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details of constructionherein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview ofthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a lawn mower including a wheeled truck and a wheelbarrow bodypivotally supported on said truck, means for hitching said wheelbarrowbody to a handle operatively connected to said wheeled truck, said meanscomprising a U-shaped bracket circumposed about said handle andclampingly secured thereto, a transverse bar disposed within saidbracket adjacent to and spaced from the bight thereof to thereby form aslot, opposed flanges on the free ends of the legs of said bracket andforming with said bar and legs a space through which the adjacentportion of said handle extends, a pair of straps dependingly carried bysaid flanges, a supporting leg interposed between said straps and havingone end pivotally secured in said straps, and a hook carried by thebottom of said wheelbarrow body and engageable in said slot to therebydetachably secure said wheelbarrow body to said handle.

2. In a lawn mower including a wheeled truck and. a wheelbarrow bodypivotally supported on said truck, means for hitchin said wheelbarrowbody to a handle operatively connected to said wheeled truck, said meanscomprising a U-shaped bracket circumposed about said handle andclampingly secured thereto, a transverse bar disposed within saidbracket adjacent to and spaced from the bight thereof to thereby formaslot, opposed flanges on the free ends of the legs of said bracket andforming with said bar and legs a space through which the adjacentportion of said handle extends, a pair of straps dependingly carried bysaid flanges, a supporting leg interposed between said straps and havingone'end pivotally secured in said straps, a hook carried by the bottomof said wheelbarrow body and engageable in said slot to therebydetachably secure said'wheel- 5 barrow body to said handle, and a stopmember on said one end of said supporting leg and engagea-ble with saidhandle for limiting the pivotal movement of said leg.

ALBERT W. BACHMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 355,245 Annin Dec. 28, 1886452,969 ONeill May 26, 1891 Number Name Date Baker May 19, 1908 McNeillApr. 27, 1920 Loomis May 20, 1941 Schroeder June 1, 1943 Andrews Aug. 7,1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Austria Feb. 10, 1909 Great BritainMar. 29, 1922 Germany Jan. 17, 1928 France Sept. 12, 1927

